


Embers

by RoseTinting



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:49:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22578097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseTinting/pseuds/RoseTinting
Summary: Some people are born as magical beasts, capable of changing shape at will. Deidara lived serving others with resentment for what he was born to until Obito gives him a rather rude awakening.
Relationships: Deidara/Uchiha Obito
Comments: 15
Kudos: 25





	1. Sparks

Deidara woke up to more pain than he thought was possible, it took him a while to separate it from himself and even though it pounded in his head in such a way he couldn't shut it out entirely. He lay there for a moment staring at the ceiling too disorientated until the screaming from outside brought the world into focus. Deidara sat up so fast he almost fell right back over. The pain was nauseating and he could smell smoke, the only explanation was that the village was under attack and he was feeling the collective suffering of the villagers. Scrambling out of bed to get dressed he tried to focus in on where the greatest amount of hurt was coming from, and almost doubled back over as he discovered the source really was mostly from one being. He could only grab at whatever clothing was in reach as he tried to shut it back out, bewildered that one creature could be suffering so much. The cries of terror from outside were getting louder and the collective pain was rising adding to the force already clawing it's way into Deidara's head. Now that he was decent enough Deidara rushed outside without putting on his sandals to find the source, he had to stop it at any cost before his head exploded from the pressure.

It was the dead of night and the whole village was burning and the fire looked all wrong. The flames were dark purple, almost black, and burned hotter than most fires did. With a deep breath Deidara reached out to the fires finding that it responded to him as any fire would and went out obediently at his command. He followed the trail of destruction gritting his teeth at the increasing agony that betrayed he was getting closer. He knelt next to any he found wounded and tended to them, with this much fire it was easy enough to repurpose without using his own store of energy. Progress was too slow for his liking but he found the source soon enough, though the sight almost made him turn around and run for it.

A dragon roared, the ground shook at it's fury, there were scars across it's pearly white scales all along the right side of it's snake-like body including it's face. It brought one clawed arm down onto another building crushing it and breathed another jet of the unnatural flame. Deidara watched it for a moment half in terror and half in admiration, only snapping out of it when the dragon closed it's jaws around one of the village's warriors sending another moment of pain to crash like a wave against the already unbearable force as the man was torn in two.

"Deidara what are you doing here?! Go home!" Deidara turned his head at the familiar voice and frowned at Kurotsuchi, was she kidding? He realized a moment later she didn't know about the dragon's internal pain that would keep Deidara from thinking of anything else.

He ignored his friend's protests as he moved closer to the dragon slowly. It seemed to sense him because it's head snapped to face him, snarling in defiance. The dragon's jaws opened to send more fire hurtling towards him, though Deidara merely let it wash over him, only redirecting it enough to keep his clothing from burning up. "Come here," He called to it, trying his best to sound soothing, "it's okay come here."

The beast took one uncertain step backwards,then rushed forward teeth snapping. Deidara let it catch him, the teeth puncturing through him was really nothing compared to what it felt and consequentially made Deidara feel. Once it had him, and he was able to stop his head from spinning, he placed his hand on it's snout and channeled whatever power he could into finding the source of pain inside and putting it out. There was a few moments where nothing happened, then he was dropped to the ground. He could hear Kurotsuchi screaming his name from somewhere nearby. He opened his eyes to find the dragon looming over him, though now in place of anger in it's eyes there was horror. It's muzzle coming closer was the last thing he saw before losing consciousness.

* * *

Deidara woke up at dawn. The sun always gave him the feeling of being renewed, though this time there was still a dull ache in his head. Eventually, he realized the pain wasn't his, and he wasn't even home. Also someone was sobbing on him. Deidara pushed the man off his chest and sat up. "The hell are you doing?"

The scarred face that stared back at him was all too familiar. "Y-you're not dead?" So this was that fearsome creatures real form? Deidara didn't find him terribly impressive.

"Nope." Deidara lifted his shirt to demonstrate that the previous night's wound was gone. "I'm fine, see? You're not though" Deidara reached one hand out toward the man's forehead but he flinched out of Deidara's reach. That was annoying, as Deidara wanted to make him stop hurting so he could stop feeling it. He inspected his surroundings curiously. "Where uh... did you take me?" It seemed like it might've been an inn but it was filled with cobwebs and... scorch marks. Deidara patted the dusty cot he'd been placed on and concluded that this was a town the dragon had already razed.

The man watching him with suspicion wasn't terrible to look at with his spiky dark hair and equally dark eyes. His scars even framed his face nicely, in Deidara's opinion. But he couldn't quite abide by the kidnapping. Though he suspected the man was just grieving after his loss of control. And now he seemed to be distrustful as he wouldn't even answer the question.

"Look I healed you didn't I? So it stands to reason I can fix myself too., hmm." Really a child could have made that connection but Deidara decided to let it slide. "What's your name? I'm Deidara." Hopefully acting friendly would get this guy to let him go home faster.

"Uh. Obi-... no I mean Tobi. It's Tobi."

Right that wasn't a suspicious answer at all. Deidara was about to lose his temper when a thought occurred. "Hey you just uh, carried me off huh? Do you know if you were followed?"

Tobi (if that was his name) seemed surprised. "No? No one's crazy enough to follow a dragon. Except maybe you."

It was better for both of them if Deidara chose to take that as a compliment, so he did. "You should really let me finish, you're giving me a headache."

Tobi frowned at him and asked, "Finish... what exactly?"

"Healing you, you idiot. Which is what I was doing before you dropped me."

Tobi was back to not looking at him and seeming ashamed. "No, I've done enough to you and your people I really couldn't let you do that."

"Shut up," Deidara told him and moved closer, catching the other man's cheek gently with one cupped hand. "Don't tell me what I'm allowed to do, hmm."

Tobi's face turned red at the touch which Deidara found amusing. Ignoring the temptation to tease him Deidara closed his eyes, focusing on his healing instead. After a few moments Deidara had to accept defeat and he dropped his hand from the other's face. "Damn it, that's rooted in too deep, I can't fix that."

Tobi scooted back from him. "That's alright, you tried, uh I'll have to let you get home."

"What? No way! I don't accept defeat." Deidara hated following the instincts that pushed him to help others, but in this instance insisting on it meant his freedom. "There's nothing for me back home anyways, hmm."

"Oh, wait, no hold on, I don't," Tobi started to protest but Deidara took advantage of his confusion to push him over, grinning triumphantly down at Tobi's flustered expression.

"I didn't think a dragon would be such a pushover. Look at it this way, you can't deal any lasting damage to me and it's the least I could do after you busted me out of the most boring job in existence."

The babbling that proceeded from his newfound companion wasn't understandable so Deidara chose to ignore it, instead standing up to take a final sweep of the place. He didn't have anything from home, but that was fine since it was all easily replaced. Although not having shoes may be a problem he might be able to find something in the ruins of this place.

"What are you a anyway," Tobi mumbled, pushing himself to his feet to dust off his back.

"I thought that was obvious, hmm," Deidara said as he threw open the blackened window to look around outside. "I'm a phoenix." The choking sound Tobi made piqued Deidara's curiosity enough that he turned around to glare at him.

Tobi looked like he'd seen ghosts marching around, the color draining from his already pale face. "O-oh. Maybe... maybe it's better if you come with me then."


	2. Glow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obito isn't too sure about his new companion, but he'd rather keep him out of the wrong hands than leave him behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh whoops I decided to continue this! For who knows how long it's just a sort of passing fancy.

Obito had to trot to keep up with Deidara, he wasn't sure how someone with such short legs could walk so fast. As nervous as the young man made him, Obito didn't want to risk someone else finding out what he was and bring him to Madara. A shiver ran down Obito's spine at the thought of the elder dragon, their last encounter hadn't gone so well. Obito wasn't sure how long he was rampaging for or what Madara did to him but he knew Deidara had only partially fixed it. When he'd caught up a bit Obito grabbed Deidara's sleeve and pulled him a little closer. "Would you stop running off like that?"

"I'm not running off, hmm." Deidara smiled up at him with all the false innocence in the world. "But look! Those are really cool right, hmm?" He pointed enthusiastically at the swarms of beetles covering buildings and trees. Obito was pretty sure Deidara hadn't been lying about never leaving his home village before. It was easy to believe that the person in charge wouldn't want to let such a valuable asset wander off and Deidara certainly seemed to have a penchant for getting himself to strange situations if their current companionship was any indicator.

"So what? They're just bugs." Obito backed away from one that had begun to try to climb his foot though he kept his grip on Deidara's coat.

Deidara looked down at Obito's hand. "You sure you're not just looking for an excuse to get close to me, hm?"

Obito let go of him immediately though he regretted it just as fast as Deidara took off again. Obito started to follow, grumbling to himself all the while about the fine mess he'd gotten himself into when Deidara came charging back,nearly crashing into him.

Deidara bounced on his heels looking over his shoulder. "Hey we should hide, hm!" Obito didn't even have time to ask why as Deidara grabbed his arm and dragged him to the nearest rubble. This wreckage of a town, Obito was only fairly sure he wasn't responsible for destroying as there was no fire and it was already being reclaimed by nature. Obito ducked down behind the mossy stone remnants willingly, swearing to himself that if this was another excuse concocted by Deidara to flirt he was just going to leave. The ground shaking made him forget such things immediately as he peeked out to see what had caused the tremor. "Oh gross, it's a beetle," Obito complained quietly. It was almost as tall as the trees with a shiny black shell and one long threatening looking horn.

"It's not gross it's cool!" Deidara said jabbing Obito in the ribs.

"I feel like you're not the best judge of dangerous situations." Obito flopped back down behind their hiding place to give Deidara what he hoped was a stern look. Judging by the other man's enthusiasm it wasn't stern enough.

"Hey I came back for you and we're laying low right? I think that shows great judgement, hm. Besides something being dangerous doesn't make it less cool. And besides which, it doesn't really matter if I get hurt I'll be fine either way."

Obito wasn't too sure about that, he'd never heard if a phoenix would recover from being eaten or not, and he wasn't eager to find out. "Your lack of self preservation is alarming, it still hurts doesn't it? If you were an average mortal you'd be dead because of me and you're acting like it was nothing when you should..." He trailed off realizing it wasn't the time for him to express how much he distrusted Deidara's lack of reaction to being almost killed. Obito buried his face in his knees and arms trying to shut out the realization of what he'd done trying to force back tears so Deidara wouldn't make fun of him for crying.

Obito felt Deidara's hand close around one of his and a gentle warmth seemed to follow which he recognized from Deidara's attempt to heal him before. "It already happened, because of it I'm free, and you weren't in control," Deidara said softly gently stroking Obito's hand with his thumb. "I don't hold on to the past, life is too short to spend all your time worrying."

"It's not short for you," Obito pointed out with a sniffle desperately using his free hand to scrub away his tears.

Deidara shrugged and gestured toward the giant lumbering beetle. "Who knows maybe that thing will eat me, I'm pretty sure some of me has to be left by sunrise for me to come back."

Obito peeked out at it again, the huge beetle seemed to be just eating leaves. Great. "Eh... I don't think it eats meat."

"Many beetles are omnivorous!" Deidara told him proudly.

"What? What's with you and bugs?"

"I like them! They're cool." Deidara's eyes shone as he leaned to observe the horrible doom beetle. "But I've never seen any like these before. Do you think they all get this big?"

"Ugh, I hope note," Obito groaned leaning back against the wall. "It's probably just a forest guardian."

Deidara was by Obito's side faster than he thought possible. "What's a forest guardian?"

"Uh... right I guess Iwa doesn't have many forests. They're um..." Obito suddenly wished he'd paid more attention to his lessons. "Really... big animals and bugs. That protect forests."

Deidara snorted and pushed him playfully. "Right, guess that's obvious. So will it leave us alone, hm?"

Obito considered it. "It might ignore you since phoenixes aren't usually forces of destruction. But it might go after me all things considered."

Deidara huffed in annoyance. "You know I can burn things down too if I want to." Obito rolled his eyes but made no comment.

Deidara sat quietly for a moment and then suddenly stood, nearly giving Obito a heart attack as he was sure the beetle would come flying over at any moment. Instead Deidara looked down at him and held out his hand. "Come on it's gone, we should get going. You wanted to get to the coast right?"

Obito took the offered hand hesitantly. "Well a real town would be nice too, these clothes I found don't really fit well. And they're starting to smell." Deidara looked down at his own torn and bloody clothing and nodded. "Which... you've never been outside Iwa so I guess it's up to me to find it." Obito realized with a sigh.

Deidara laughed and linked his elbow with Obito's. "Well even if neither of us knows where we're going we'll end up somewhere eventually! And then we can find someone who does know."

Obito felt the heat rushing to his face in response to the contact. Deidara didn't seem to have any concept of personal space Obito had quickly learned, he suspected it was due to being forced into the position of a healer though maybe it was really just a personality quirk. It would be better to find an occupied town as soon as possible in the hopes that more people around wouldn't leave him feeling so awkward alone with Deidara. The only trouble was he didn't know what direction to begin heading off in as going the wrong way could just put them further inland and that wouldn't do at all. Obito had to get off the continent as fast as possible with Deidara before Madara found either of them. With a phoenix that tyrant dragon could well make himself immortal and if Obito couldn't fight him fairly without being turned into a rampaging beast he'd just wait the old man out. Madara was already ancient so it couldn't possibly be that much longer to wait.

"How'd you know the beetle was gone without looking anyway?" Obito wondered looking back at the now unoccupied space.

"I just know where living things are, and some are... I guess you could say brighter than others? These smaller beetles barely register but something like you or the beetle are practically a beacon. Especially you since you're always in pain."

Obito frowned and patted his torso down in confusion. "I'm not in any pain though?"

"You are," Deidara replied with enough confidence to leave Obito a little disconcerted. "It's not as bad as when we met, more of a dull throb. You probably just don't think about it anymore."

Privately Obito wondered if Deidara could sense emotional pain as well but he dismissed it as ridiculous. He must have just gotten so used to his scars he didn't notice that they hurt or something. "So it must hurt you too to be near me right?"

He didn't get an answer as Deidara went rushing off again. With great resignation Obito followed, hoping Deidara hadn't just found some dangerous thing like a rampaging dragon again.


	3. Wildfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things are expected to be the nature of a healer, Deidara didn't ask to be defined by his abilities and he's beginning to think Obito feels the same way.

The nausea was almost overwhelming, a hospital was the worst place to be if you were forced to feel the illnesses and injuries of those near you. Worse still was the nearly uncontrollable impulse to make it stop by healing them that had to be kept at bay. The privilege of instant relief was for soldiers and those who could pay. Sometimes Deidara fantasized about burning the whole place to the ground, you couldn't hurt if you were dead. But it would be pure agony to endure it, that was the only reason he wouldn't do it. Or maybe that's just what Deidara told himself, to remain convinced he didn't have a heart and it was only the fact that he'd feel it too if he deliberately hurt others. There was nothing to do but keep moving from bed to bed, laying hands on the wounded who were permitted by the government officials to receive aid so they could go right back to fighting endless wars. The body was easily healed but there wasn't much that could be done for the minds of these soldiers who'd seen such endless horrors. The sound of people shouting and a fresh wave of hurt broke through these thoughts. More wounded were coming, in an endless tide of mutilated limbs and broken spirits.

All at once Deidara sat upright, the dream had left him disoriented and sweaty. The stars overhead were the most reassuring sight, signalling that he hadn't been transported back to Iwa after all to go back to tending to those who might be better off left alone. After a few moments of just sitting and staring at the sky Deidara realized the pain in his chest from the dream hadn't quite gone away. Moving out of his cot he crawled closer to his companion, who's tightly shut eyes and pale face implied his dreams were anything but pleasant. Deidara stroked the man's hair and watched his expression relax and breathing become steady. Whatever nightmare had been chased away successfully, whatever mental scars remained temporarily forgotten in sleep.

Deidara got up only to move his cot closer to Tobi's settling down closer to him so he could more easily soothe any pains that surfaced. He tried to stay fairly close, and so far he didn't think Tobi realized what he was doing. He was probably so used to the pain he didn't even notice when it flared up, or when it dulled back down to an ache at Deidara's touch. It was easier to pass off the constant hugs, hand holding, and nudges as shameless flirting than to admit he was trying to do something about the constant hurt Tobi seemed to feel. After all, Tobi might leave him behind if he thought he was being too much of a burden or causing someone else pain. The idea of a dragon being such a gentle crybaby would be hilarious if not ultimately frustrating. Pain or not, Deidara decided he was better off with the dragon than anyone who would want to use the healing abilities for war or immortality. Tobi didn't seem like he wanted to use anyone, as far as Deidara could tell. For the time being Deidara would have to play it safe and keep Tobi from noticing the true meaning of the constant touching from a phoenix. It wasn't that difficult since Deidara didn't really have to fake it, Tobi was cute enough that half the time Deidara was being sincere. And watching such a powerful creature turn completely red was worth it.

Deidara settled back into bed after checking to make sure Tobi was really still sleeping soundly. He definitely wasn't just doing this because he felt like he owed this man for so dramatically removing him from Iwa. It was just because no one in their right mind would try to control a phoenix who's hanging around a dragon. That was all. But mental scars were really so much harder to heal.

* * *

Deidara had to jog to catch up with Tobi, after having been completely entranced watching a bird build it's nest. He grabbed Tobi's hand, holding on tight when the man tried to immediately free himself before giving up with a resigned sigh.

"Could you choose to be either clingy or not? You can't seem to decide." Though he was trying to sound strict he couldn't hide his embarrassment even with the harsh tone.

"Everything is always in a constant state of changing and we are no different. Better to be one or the other in a given moment than both at once." Deidara responded, not relaxing his grip for a moment, "Besides it's just that I haven't seen a bird like that, they don't live where I'm from."

"I have a hard time believing someone as curious as you never traveled," Tobi mumbled. "surely they had to bring you out sometime."

It was hard not to let a comment like that get to him, but it wouldn't do to yell at Tobi now. "I wasn't allowed to. They would have just sent someone to hunt me for defying them. Luckily I don't think they'll do that since they probably think I've been kidnapped."

"Ah." Tobi seemed a little worried by that, though he didn't bring up separating or bringing Deidara back to Iwa which was itself a relief. After a few moments of awkward silence Tobi rather nervously offered what he likely thought was the best solution. "We could try to send a message back to your home so your family doesn't worry."

"It won't be me they're worried for," Deidara snapped back. "They don't like me they just like what I can do, hmm."

"I see, at least there's something about you they like then." There was a bitterness in Tobi's response Deidara couldn't ignore, but he wasn't going to pursue it for now, he just filed away that information for later. Hopefully unraveling the mystery of this dragon and who hurt him would reveal how to undo the damage they'd done to him as well. Though largely Deidara suspected there was no way to permanently undo hurt like that.

"I think I would have rather been a disappointment," Deidara mused, now twining his arm around Tobi's to grasp his hand again. "I can't say I cared for having to heal anyone for them."

Somehow Tobi managed to keep his composure despite his face becoming more red by the second. He'd been like that all day since he'd woken up to find how close Deidara had gotten to him in the night. "You're strangely heartless for a creature that's supposed to heal others."

Unlike Tobi, Deidara had a better handle on which emotions made it to the surface so he easily hid how much that comment stung. This man could benefit from a mask Deidara decided, both so he'd have an easier time acting indifferent and so Deidara could punch him in the face without causing them both to feel it after. He kept his tone carefree as he replied, "No one can break your heart if you don't have one you know."

"I guess that's true," Tobi admitted. "But wouldn't you just heal anyway?"

What Deidara wouldn't give for that to be true. There wasn't a way to recover from things like trauma and heartache that didn't require working at it. Even his physical healing capabilities were more limited than he'd originally thought as Tobi's body refused to fully recover, Deidara suspected the origin of his wounds were magical, possibly from one of the many things that could itself kill a phoenix. It was a subject of interest for him but he hesitated to bring it up when he couldn't even get something like a birthday out of his new travel companion. Fortunately Deidara was spared answering the question as his keen sense for lifeforms picked up a large mass of them to the west, just a little out of the way from the direction they were going. "There's a town that way," Deidara informed Tobi cheerfully, "do you want to stop for food?"

"I thought you'd never been outside your village before," Tobi started to look suspicious then seemed to realize his own mistake. "Oh you... feel them?"

"There's better, less creepy ways to put it, but that is the gist of it," Deidara said with a laugh. It was like being home with Kurotsuchi, though she was far more vulgar than this man could dream of being when she felt like it. Possibly the only good thing about that place and the only one he'd miss but it was worth it so far.

"Hm. I'll wait for you, outside the town if you want to go in," Tobi offered, though concern was plain on his face as if he didn't really like the idea.

Frowning, Deidara looked up at Tobi's face with pleading eyes. "You won't come in with me?"

There was that shade of red that had become so delightfully familiar as Tobi quickly turned his face away. "No, I might be recognized, at the very least as the dragon who was attacking villages because of my scars."

"If that's the case, I could get you a mask?" It was always delightful when an earlier idea came into play.

Tobi's lips pursed for a brief moment before he smiled. "Yeah, I guess that would work, okay. Something plain would be nice, to not draw too much attention."

People would definitely immediately put all attention on anyone wearing a mask but Deidara didn't broach that topic, instead he tugged Tobi's arm in the direction of the town. "Let's go then! I'll let you know before we get to close and I can find you a mask, hmm."

"Alright, alright! Just stop before you pull my arm off!" Obito complained as he struggled to move as fast as Deidara was pulling him.

Privately Deidara wondered if dragons were anything like lizards and a detached limb would regrow. It was better not to ask, sometimes Tobi was a little touchy on the topic of being a dragon.

The Marketplace was swarming with activity, there were so many lives bustling around Deidara wished he could shut them out and focus more easily on the task at hand. After what felt like an eternity of searching he did find a stall with woodcarving that was selling masks, apparently left over from the last festival in the town. Though they were anything but plain, definitely too flashy for Obito. Deidara frowned at them for a while before wandering away to think it over more. He was about to give up, go back and get the gaudiest one available just to see how Tobi would react when he caught sight of men wearing black hooded robes... and simple masks shaped like the face of a dragon. Though they were obviously some kind of cult, Deidara was still intrigued. No one else seemed to stop and stare at these two despite their appearance being incredibly unusual to Deidara. Glancing around quickly Deidara made sure no one was looking as he ducked down behind an empty stall and shifted in a brief burst of fire. Wings were more convenient when you needed to follow someone, and though his other form was still fairly large he could hopefully stay out of sight. Tobi would be pissed if he heard people talking about seeing a phoenix, and Deidara wasn't keen on tipping anyone off anyways. He didn't take off into the trees until he was sure no one was looking his way, fortunately with fall creeping in the leaves matched Deidara's orange, red, and yellow feathers enough he didn't stick out too much. He kept track of the feeling of the two men, and moved when he was sure no one was paying attention to wherever he was currently perched, eventually making it to a huge imposing building that the two hooded figures disappeared into. It had carvings of dragons all over it, Deidara had never seen a building like it though it did remind him his home's Temple of the Mountain. There were even more people wearing the same things as the other two. Deidara could have smiled if he didn't have a beak, the perfect plan.

Obito stared at the robe and mask in shock. "...Where did you get these? There's a cathedral there?"

Deidara had scouted out an orange mask, and unfortunately black seemed to be the only available robe but he personally thought Obito would look better in blue or purple. "I have no idea what that is, hmm. But people were ignoring those guys so I thought it could work."

"I mean, how did you even get these? The spares are usually kept in the main office."

"Hm? Oh never mind how. We can just say I'm a master of breaking and entering. It helps to know the location of all living things near you." Deidara stared at the disguise. "So... it'll work?"

"Oh, it'll more than work," Obito agreed as he secured the mask on his face, "You basically just handed me things so I could pretend to be one of the people who worships dragons. If I was ever going to pull off blending in... well. I grew up in one of the cathedrals I know enough about them I can pass myself off as one."

The feeling of pride was, Deidara decided, well worth the risk he'd taken. "So... you can go anywhere like this?"

"Should be able to, yes, most people won't give the members of the dragon church trouble. Not in the land of Fire at least, your country is another story completely."

Deidara wrinkled his nose. "What do they care if people worship dragons? Those weirdos worship a Volcano you know, they think it's where I got my powers." It had always been a matter of contention between himself and the so-called elites of Iwa. The volcano they were so reverent of didn't even have a life force so Deidara refused to accept their idea it could do anything, and they were all just lucky it didn't explode yet.

"Well, I don't think dragons is much better, we're not without fault." Obito admitted, donning the robe and securing the mask. "Especially not my grandfather. It's just a way for him to control us other three. Well, the other two now. I'm sure he thinks someone's killed me by now."

Deidara tilted his head wondering if it was the mask that made Obito suddenly more forthcoming. Did he feel safer if he knew his face was hidden? "So... you want to go check out the town?" He wondered if it would be easier or harder to be among so many people with Obito by his side. At the very least his life force and pain dwarfed all others.

Though it was as if Obito had read his mind, because he shook his head and explained. "It might be better to head for the next one, in case the original owner of these recognizes them." He offered his arm to Deidara's surprise, but still the younger man grabbed it with little hesitation. The mask really was making him more bold, it was almost a shame. Obito was so fun to tease.


End file.
